On Time, on Budget: This Is New York?

SWEE PHUAH, the contractor for the new Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village that David Chang expects to open next week, pointed at the speakers in what was still a sawdusty construction site a few weeks ago.

“Sound is one big concern for David, because his music seems to be, you know, louder than some other places,” Mr. Phuah said with a sly smile. “We’re scaling down on his speakers so it doesn’t sound like some sort of club.”

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Hiromi Tsuruta, left, and Swee Phuah designed and built Momofuku Noodle bar. Credit
Donna Alberico for The New York Times

Not that Mr. Phuah actually thinks Mr. Chang will be timid with the volume knob. All three of Mr. Chang’s restaurants were built by Mr. Phuah and designed by his partner, the architect Hiromi Tsuruta, called Hiro, and by now they’re familiar with his quirks.

Take the tattered poster of John McEnroe in the front of Momofuku Ssam Bar. It’s the only piece of decoration in an otherwise sleek room and, according to Mr. Phuah, Mr. Chang said that it was the most important thing in the restaurant after the kitchen, without further explanation.

“He said it was the Picasso for this place,” Mr. Tsuruta said.

“So we made a niche,” added Mr. Phuah with a laugh.

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Among their other projects is Soto.Credit
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Sure enough, they gave the poster its own alcove, as if it were a religious icon.

Mr. Tsuruta and Mr. Phuah, who expect to complete eight restaurants in New York this year, don’t quickly come to mind as one of New York’s more prolific design teams. But in the East Village especially, they have a following among restaurateurs with more ambition and creativity than budget and space.

Their firm, Design & Construction Resources, provides a seamless transition from design to construction. That unusual collaboration has helped them create a signature style that uses inexpensive materials (drywall, plywood, track lighting), and a crisp sense of geometry to create visually sophisticated, if tiny, rooms.

It’s a look they developed at the sushi restaurant Jewel Bako, their rookie project in 2001.

“I told Hiro I wanted sexy lighting and bamboo,” said Jack Lamb, an owner. Mr. Tsuruta responded with a simple but elegant bamboo arch floating over the banquettes, since replaced by Mr. Phuah with ribbons of bamboo veneer. It was an economical solution that looked chic instead of cheap, largely because of Mr. Phuah’s exacting craftsmanship.

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Momofuku Ssam Bar.Credit
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

They have a sterling reputation for coming in on budget, not one of which has grazed the $1 million mark. (This in an era where a Manhattan hamburger joint might cost upward of $1.2 million.)

It has earned them the loyalty not only of Mr. Chang and Mr. Lamb, who has also used them on each of his seven restaurant projects, but also of Anita Lo (for whom they designed Rickshaw Dumpling Bar and Q, a barbecue restaurant opening in December), of Sotohiro Kosugi of Soto, and of Don and Chika Tillman (ChikaLicious and ChikaLicious Puddin’, a bakery opening next month).

Their speed is another attraction — the new Momofuku Noodle Bar will have taken 12 weeks from demolition to the serving of the first bowl of ramen. As soon as it opens they will begin work transforming the old Momofuku Noodle Bar down the block into Momofuku Ko.

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Jewel Bako.Credit
Kate Lacey for The New York Times

“Dave is equipment crazy,” Mr. Phuah said of Mr. Chang as he pored over the appliance list for the new noodle bar, including a custom noodle cooker, standard noodle cooker, a grill, plancha, salamander, steam oven, range and, for the crispy veal sweetbreads, a deep fryer.

But most of that will be invisible to diners at the new noodle bar. The shoe-box-shaped room, which might be described as a dojo crossed with a lunch counter, is more than twice as big as the old restaurant. The walls are lined with strips of plywood, with a bar running the length of one wall and even a small waiting area, a luxury when space is money.

And the Picasso there? A six-foot-by-four-foot photograph of the Band that Elliot Landy took for the group’s 1968 album, “Music From Big Pink.”

“I’ll tell you the real geeky reason why it’s the Band,” Mr. Chang said later by phone. “It was truly a group mentality. It’s some of the things we strive for at Momofuku. The picture is going to freak people out, but it’s for us. It’s an affirmation that this is a group effort.”

Mr. Tsuruta and Mr. Phuah share a similar collaborative spirit, but the photograph’s symbolism didn’t seem to resonate. “I told them about it, and Hiro didn’t get it,” Mr. Chang said. “Swee said, ‘Dave, you’re a weirdo.’ So I just told them they should just expect a massive picture.”